SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The federal judge who ruled that California’s gay marriage ban is unconstitutional says he is stepping down from the bench.

The San Francisco-based federal court says Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker notified President Barack Obama by letter on Wednesday that he will leave the court in February.

Walker is retiring after 21 years as a federal judge. The 66-year-old has been chief judge of the Northern District of California since 2004.

He did not state in the letter his reason for stepping down.

Walker oversaw the high-profile trial over Proposition 8, a voter-approved initiative restricting a marriage to one man and one woman. His August ruling that struck down Proposition 8 is currently being challenged in a federal appeals court.

One Comment

Good riddance. He finagled the case to put it on his docket because he is gay and wanted to create law. He should have recused himself. He should have dismissed it for lack of jurisidiction. Why wait until February? Why not leave now?

Why do you bother to chime in when you have said absolutely NOTHING that has to do with the issue. Are you only sharp enough to make petty personal attacks? Go ahead, turn that unbelievably high I.Q. of yours loose on the subject instead of a participant.

Vudu – you already lost and you are back for more? Stop characterizing people. You have ZERO clue as to who I am or what I believe. Some presuming and you may learn something. One thing I hope you learn is that you do not know everything and everybody.

Disagree with his decision, but he is one of the finest Federal Judges in CA. He and his legal mind will be greatly missed. If you will BUT READ HIS DECISION you will see it is a well reasoned decision, supported by both fact and law. Time to get over your petty religious and/or moral bias, and view the issue from a constitutional perspective. that is what this country is founded on, not what any particular religion believes, or what some group of people may think is moral vs. immoral.

Then who should decide how far YOUR “personal freedoms” should be allowed to go? I don’t think that every individual has what it takes inside to curb their “personal freedoms” and many will go further and further until someone stops them.

Of course the majority should decide. The country was built on the concept.

Here’s some cold hard facts. Karen never read ANY of the decision, is an example of the worst kind of American (ignorant to american law, freedom, religion and it’s place in this country) and is actually just stupid.

Also gay marriage will be legalized in California forever.

these are facts people. nothing she does or says will ever refute them.

I still don’t understand why the majority is allowed to vote on the rights of a minority. If it had been up to the plantation owners, there would still be slavery. There are always people who need to keep others down so that they can maintain some semblance of power/superiority. It’s a flawed system, and it won’t last. Eventually, enough people will pull their heads out of the Middle Ages and evolve.

Wow, you are really out there. Civil Unions give gay couples the same “legal” rights as regular marriages. Who is keeping anyone down?

But let me ask you this. Why is there a thing called “gay rights” in the first place. Why would they be any diffderent than anyone else? If you want your “gay rights” how about giving extra rights to those of us who aren’t gay to even the “rights” “score”?

Yes, Prop 8 should have never made it to the ballot. It is legally in violation of constitutional rights, and the money that the Mormons spent brainwashing with their agenda would have been better spent helping people, rather than trying to force their idea of “morality” onto the rest of the voters. Judge Walker ruled on a legal basis, not on bias, whether you want to look at it objectively or not.

When I voted YES on Prop 8, I had no clue the Mormons were involved in some campaign. To me – neither two men nor two women can procreate. I don’t believe in violating the natural laws of the universe.

Just to be clear, I am for gay marriage, against Proposition 8 (hate), and take the position that it’s not anyone’s right to tell another person who they can marry, whether you’re gay, straight, black, white. Live andl let live. My point is that the so-called “moral majority” who think that just because putting Prop 8 on the ballot and getting it passed through the Mormons pushing their agenda is enough to say that the people have spoken is not what this is about. Judge Walker wrote an articulate, intelligent, legally sound reason why he was shooting it down. That is sound legal reasoning, not bias, as some would suggest.

Where’s the Ombudsman? The headline is in error! It should read that the judge who ruled Prop. 8 UNCONSTITUTIONAL to step down.

@Karen – thank you for your succinct and articulate comments. I agree with you wholeheartedly. The eternal Judge, that Ancient of Days ruled long ago that marriage is solely between a man and a woman. He’s the one who CREATED marriage. Gays don’t want to obey God, why in the WORLD would they want to participate in a ceremony created and set forth BY God?

Actually man created the current marriage contract – its currently a legal contract defined by and enforced by mankind – the current legal terms and enforcement in this country were all written by man – not divine.

Ok i think I figured out “Karen”. Shes what you would call a forum troll. Comes here just to argue for entertainment, doesnt actually believe most the stuff she says. Cant blame her that much, its fun when you’re really really bored. Well played Karen!!! I let myself get dragged in, didnt realize it until I read all your comments to several people and concluded no serious person could be that ignorant, self contradicting, and arrogant at the same time.

Just want you to know they’ve shut down my side of the discussion — as it appears they have shut Karen down, too.

We may be on different sides of the argument, but I think you’ll agree with me that we both have a right to be a part of the conversation and it was enjoyable while it lasted. I hope you’ll see that this site is clearly liberal and clearly shutting down the opposite side of the conversation. That’s pretty insecure.

As replies are still enabled, I hope this is not shut down. I do have a rights issue – separate from my personal opinion in this case. I for one, am not trying to shut anyone down – just discussing the facts in a country that has a distinict seperation of church and state.

I never mentioned divine once. The natural laws of the universe ARE PHYSICS in case you did not know. One of those laws is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, or the laws of gravity, or the fact that energy can not be created or destroyed, it can only be transferred. That is what I am talking about.

And to the people who want “separation of church and state” – please remember that the first amendment to the US Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. Thomas Jefferson insisted we include a Bill of Rights because our forefathers RESPECTED RELIGION.

I’ve replied several times and posted on twitter that my comments are being blocked from being posted. I think it is the liberal moderator on the forum, not you, Anagram that is doing it.

Try posting a conservative comment and see how it just miraculously doesn’t appear on the board. Comments are enabled for you —- see any “reply button” under my previous ‘being shut down” post? No. Nada. Not there. Wake up Americans – the liberal media is drowning your compatriots just because we have dissenting opinions.

I believe you have rights Anagram. I’m all for protecting them under the Constitution. I have rights, too. Want to talk directly? reach me at karolhansen@yahoo.com

The largest media network in the world – news international cannot be classed as liberial. If you are being blocked – and your comments are not classed as racist or bigoted – then a mistake is being made.

Every one has a right to discuss – but not to regress the rights of others.

Well, all I can tell you Ana is that I’ve made plenty of unbigoted, unracist remarks, but have included quotes from the Bible and a reference to kool-aid aromatic dark rooms, but ALL of those comments are not posted. But two of my later ones are…you keep believing in the lame-stream media, I for one have worked in the law firms and seen the back room deals and watched it be reported TOTALLY different that it actually went down.

I’m calling it a night, Ana. Keep fighting for the Constitution and for the American Ideal — we ALL have a seat at the table and I for one, thank GOD ALMIGHTY as the one personally responsible for that.

I am tiring of answering the question about infertile couples or older couples, etc. As I said in my amicus brief to Walker, just because you can make a baby in a test tube does not give cause to change the centuries old definition of marriage.

@Karen, I’m proud of you for doing a Friend of the Court brief! If you want a photo copy for an exhibit of a California State Marriage license that says this marriage is granted by God with the California State Seal on it, signed by the governor from the 1840’s, I’d be happy to forward that to you.

Just so you and everyone else knows — cbsalan is a web producer for cbslocal.com and was acting as the moderator — or editor, as he called himself. I wonder if he was also Alan Hart who commented above.

Contrary to the work of fiction that were your submissions Karen, equality is not subject to religious interpretation. Equal protection exists to protect everyone on the same level, not to promote one or another particular secular belief system. Governmental promotion of religiously based legislation is forbidden by the constitution because (for the bazillionth time) the Constitution was created to protect minorities in this country from the majority. The U.S. is clearly a “christian” country and the “definitions” thrust forward for marriage thus far have all come from christian based religious viewpoints. Inserting those definitions into law by popular vote is EXACTLY what the Constitution is intended to prevent.
The only thing that Prop 8 accomplished was to put a minority group’s fundamental right up to a popular vote. If you think otherwise, well, you am an idiot.